1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for analyzing cells in real-time; and more particularly, to an apparatus for analyzing cells in real-time which incorporates a wavelength-tunable light source/infrared ray (IR) sensor and can be used to observe and analyze the infrared ray (IR)-related characteristics of adherent cells or non-adherent cells.
2. Background of the Related Art
Any discussion of the prior art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such prior art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in this field.
In using conventional laser capture microdissection (LCM) systems for IR measurement, a tissue of interest is mounted on a slide glass under a usual microscope, and a transfer film, which is a thermoplastic film, is placed on it and then a part of the transfer film which is activated by laser beam expands to get fused to cells of interest of the underlying tissue. In this way, the conventional LCM systems for IR measurement can be used to obtain only cells of interest. The apparatuses for such systems enable an operator to select only cells of interest and extract several cells easily using a continuous laser emission mode. And the conventional apparatuses are operated with low power IR to protect a specimen.
However, the conventional apparatuses can not be used to analyze IR characteristics which a cell shows in response to changes of external environments. Especially, they can not be used in chemotaxis experiments for analyzing reactions of cells to chemicals. In addition, the conventional apparatuses have disadvantages in that specific materials inside cells can not be easily quantified and long-time observation can not be made using them. These disadvantages, namely difficulties in quantification of specific materials in cells and long-time observation, are more conspicuous in case of using a usual fluorescent microscope.